Cardinalfandom - Cardinal's Moss

Lemony Snicket: Dear reader, if you have just picked up this book, then it is not too late to put it back down.

10-year-old me: I think the fuck not

New writing rule: Checkov’s friend

If you introduce a named character with a relationship to a protagonist, their character arc must be resolved in a way that feels reasonable and satisfying

Which is to say: they can’t just dissappear when they’re no longer a convenient plot device

A Series of Unfortunate Events is a Passover Story

So I’ll be honest, I’m not the best Jew to be writing this post. I first saw Fiddler on the Roof at age 19, and the first words out of my mouth were, “Wow! This is really Jewish!” (Meanwhile, my mom was commenting on the Yiddish anachronisms of this play about Russian Jews, because she’s a good Jew who actually Knows Jewish Things) But I hadn’t really heard or seen much about just how incredibly Jewish A Series of Unfortunate Events is, which is a shame because Lemony Snicket/Daniel Handler is himself Jewish. So Jewish, in fact, that he helped write the New American Haggadah (including a part about how, just as there are Four [types of] Children who ought to be accommodated during Passover, there are Four Parents who really ought to be ignored.) But seeing as I can’t find anyone better to write about all the cool Jewish culture and symbolism in A Series of Unfortunate Events, I’ll take over until someone else comes along and does a better job.

Spoiler warning, of course. There’s a lot of deep lore that gains new meaning when looked at through a Jewish lens, including the symbolism behind horseradish and the sugar bowl.

Keep reading

Glaze is out!

Tired of having your artwork used for AI training but find watermarks dismaying and ineffective?

Well check this out! Software that makes your Art look messed up to training AIs and unusable in a data set but nearly unchanged to human eyes.

I just learned about this. It's in Beta. Please read all the information before using.

This got me dying

writer survey question time:

inspired by seeing screencaps where the software is offering (terrible) style advice because I haven't used a software that has a grammar checker for my stories in like a decade

if you use multiple applications, pick the one you use most often.

Things I need more of in my life: Midwestern gothic/horror stories.

Barns with no doors that almost seem to breathe, their walls bending inward and outward every few seconds.

That one diner at the edge of town where the people you see through the windows on the outside are not the same as the ones inside.

That late night train that travels slowly across the tracks, steam leaking out of the closed doors of the cars. If you listen closely you can hear skittering inside them.

In the park there is a circle of dead grass right behind the swings and if you get close enough you can hear it whispering.

Fields of corn that rustle in the wind and anyone foolish enough to wander into them are never heard from again. Sometimes the farmers will find their shoes during the harvest.

Back roads that don’t make geographical sense. Sometimes you just get stuck in a curve for an hour only to find yourself a mile away from the nearest town afterwards.

Passing the same farm house five times in a row.

Never listen to the crows. Their secrets will alter you in terrible ways.

The scarecrows are always wearing new clothes whenever you see them, even when you take your eyes off them for only a moment.

Don’t ever mention the man who waves to you on your way to work every morning. Don’t mention that he’s been dead for ten years.

Never buy flowers from the flower shop on Main Street. You know the one: the doors are always open, even in winter, and you can smell the sweet scent of roses mixed with something rotting.

ooh you mentioned buying a folk horror anthology in the tags of that horror post, can i ask which one? i’d love to read more folk horror but i don’t really know where to start (also if you have other folk horror recs i would not be upset)

Yeah of course, happy to help! I bought The Fiends in the Furrows: An Anthology of Folk Horror edited by David T. Neal which features stories by current writers (and there's a second anthology with more).

If you're looking to start with some classic folk horror then there's a few major authors and stories that are worth checking out (many of these should be available to read online for free):

'The White People' by Arthur Machen

'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson

'The Black Reaper' by Bernard Capes

'The Ash Tree' by M. R. James

'Pallinghurst Barrow' by Grant Allen

'The Willows' by Algernon Blackwood

Ritual by David Pinner (basis for The Wicker Man)

'The Music on the Hill' by Saki

The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen

'The Sin Eater' by Fiona MacLeod

Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon

'The Children of the Corn' by Stephen King

And if you want some recent folk horror then these are worth a go:

The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley

The Owl Killers by Karen Maitland

The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson

Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss

The Plague Stones by James Brogden

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll (graphic story collection)

The Ritual by Adam Nevill (honestly the film is much better and well worth watching, but the first half of the book is fantastic)

Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver (gothic horror meets folk horror)

The Hidden People by Alison Littlewood

Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones (not a traditional folk horror novel but it explores the role of Native American folklore & culture in the modern day in a really interesting way)

The Reddening by Adam Nevill

Pine by Francine Toon